Dental floss holder



Seli 1l 1945- J. TURENCHALK Erm. 2,384,712

DENTAL FLDSS HOLDER Filed Aug. 30. 1945 Jhn V TrencazZ';A

u, IN VEN TORS ATI'DINIYI Patented Sept. 11, 1945 uNll'rlzD STATES OFFICE DENTAL ELOSS IOIDER John Turenchalk land HarryTurenchalk,

vApplication August 30, 1943seria1`no. `501x566 V claims. (ci. 132;.;91); Y v

Our invention relates to dentalfloss devices, and has amongA its.V objects and advantages the provision ofi an improved-y dental floss holder, wherein novel means are incorporated for maintaining the dental floss in a taut condition, in addition to securely clamping the dental floss.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a view of the dental floss holder.

Figure 2 is a View rotated 90 degrees.

Figure 3 is an enlarged View of one of the clamps.

Figure 4 is an end view of the structure of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a modified View of a clamping nut.

Figure 6 is a view of the structure of Figure 3 rotated 90 degrees.

Figure '7 is a sectional View of the structure of Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a perspective view of a clamp part of Figures 6 and 7.

In the embodiment of the invention selected for illustration, we make use of a holder I0 comprising a piece of spring ywire bent back upon itself to provide a loop I2 and arms I4 which are held in parallel relationship by the dental floss I6. The arms I4, in the absence of the floss I6 diverge, so that the floss I6 is placed under the necessary tension when clamped in accordance with Figure 1.`Av The arms I4 are of suicient length to provide a handle. In spacing the arms I4 4closer than the maximum diameter of the loop I2 we provide an arrangement wherein a good grip may be held on the handle structure. The upper ends of the arms I4 diverge at I8 and then continue in parallelism up to the floss I6. When viewed according to Figure 2, the arms -I4 are bent in the regions of their diverging zones to positions at an angle of about 45 degrees to the remainder of the holder. This arrangement permits the floss I6 to be manipulated in all accessible places.

Each leg I4 is provided with a floss clamp 20. The two clamps are of identical construction. Referring to Figures 3, 6 and 7, the leg I 4 is provided with external threads 22 for a sleeve nut 24 which abuts a clamp head 26 to secure the floss I6 between the clamp head and abutment 28 constituting an end portion of the leg. The leg I4 is provided with a longitudinally extending slot 30 terminatingshort of the end portion 28 for slidably receiving a web 32 of the clamp head 26. 'I'he web 32 is provided with pins 34 which extend through openings in bodies 36 slidably engaging flattened sides 38 on the leg I4.

The bodies 36 engage one end of the sleeve nut 24;; and the web 32 sldesfreely in the slot 30. 'Ilhe pins` 34': are rivetedat lili to fixedly connect the bodies: 36: with, the web. One edge of the web 32 is roughened at 42 to secure a good grip on the floss I6, and one end face of the slot 30 is also roughened at 44 for engagement with the floss I6. Thus the floss may be clamped securely between the web `end 42 and the roughened surface 44 through rotation of the sleeve nut 24.

. The web 32 restrains the clamp body 26 from rotation when the sleeve nut 24 is rotated, in addition to holding the roughened end 42 in parallelism with the roughened surface 44, the latter is curved to embrace a considerable margin of the dental floss I6. The roughened end 42 is curved in conformity with the roughened surface 44.

Figures 3, 4 and 6 illustrate the sleeve nut 24 as being of hexagonal contour, while Figure 5 illustrates a similar nut 46 of cylindrical contour and provided with a roughened surface 48 for good gripping purposes.

All the parts of the clamp structure, as well as the holder in general, are characterized by rounded corners and smooth surfaces. The floss I6 may be easily threaded through the clamps and made secure through tightening of the nut 24. The tension of the holder maintains the floss under a necessary degree of tautness, and the floss is securely clamped against accidental slipping and eliminates the necessity of tying knots in the floss for coaction with hooks and other types of abutments. Thus the floss I6 need not be accurately knotted at predetermined intervals since the floss may be securely clamped in any position.

Without further elaboration, the foregoing will so fully explain our invention, that others may, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt the same for use under variousccnditions of service.

We claim:

l. A dental floss holder comprising a bent wire handle having spaced legs, elongated slots in the legs adjacent the ends,the legs at the slots being threaded, a web slidably mounted in each slot, and provided with pins, `bodies engaged by the pins, the end of the leg at each slot formed to provide a first clamping part, the web forming a second clamping part, and a sleeve nut on the threaded en-d for forcing the web into clamping engagement with floss between the rst clamping part and the web.

2. The invention as described in claim 1, the opposing surfaces of the end and the web being slightly curved and roughened to facilitate holding the floss.

3. A dental oss holder comprising a handle means having two legs each of which is provided with elongated slots adjacent an end, the material of the leg between the slot and lthe end forming a rst clamp part having portions thereof lying in said slots, the end of the leg at the slot being threaded, a second clamp part having webs slidably conned in said slots coacting with each rst Clamp -part to secure dental loss vtherebetween, and means connected with the threaded part of the respective legs for moving the second clamp parts into oss clamping relationship with the rst clamp parts.

4. A ydental oss holder comprising a, handle means having two legs each of which is provided with elongated slots adjacent an end, dental floss threaded through said slots, a lirst .clamp part comprising unslotted end portions of said legsv the end of the legs at the slot being threaded, a second clamp part having Webs slidably conned in said slots coacting with each rst clamp part to secure said dental floss therebetween, and means connected with the threaded part of the respective legs for moving the second clamp parts into oss clamping relationship with the rst clamp parts.

5. A dental floss holder comprising a handle means having two legs,'each of which is provided with a slot adjacent-l the end, the material of the leg between the slot and the end forming a first clamp part, the end of the leg at the slot being threaded, a second clamp part in the slot coacting with each rst clamp part to secure dental floss therebetween, said legs being of spring metal and normally at an angle to each other and designed to be drawn together by the oss under tension Vto a substantially parallel relationship to constantly tension the floss, said legs being bent in the regions of their diverging zones to positions at an angle of about 45 degrees to the remainder of the holder, and means connected with the threaded part of the respective legs for moving the second clamp parts into floss clamping relationship with the first clamp parts.

JOHN TURENCHALK.

HARRY TURENCHALK. 

